Iran vows to retaliate if US seeks to break nuclear deal

Tehran: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday said that if the US leaders want to break the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the nuclear deal, the Islamic republic will retaliate.

“The pros and cons of the JCPOA are exaggerating over its merits and limits. It has some porosities and loopholes which have been misused by the enemy,” Xinhua quoted Khamenei as saying.

The other side was committed to remove the sanctions against Iran and to lift bans on Iran’s banking transactions with the world, which have not been implemented by them, he said in a meeting with senior Iranian administrative, legislative and judiciary officials.

“The Americans have not fulfilled major part of their commitments, but we took the preliminary steps, suspended 20 per cent uranium enrichment and shut down Fordow (enrichment site) and Arak (heavy water) reactor,” he added.

The Iranian top leader emphasised that “we won’t break the JCPOA. But if the other side seeks to break it, as some candidates in the US presidential elections threaten to tear it to pieces, we will set it ablaze.”

Iran and the world powers reached a deal over the former’s controversial nuclear programme last year which was implemented in January.

Under the deal, Iran quit major part of its nuclear programme in return for limited lift of sanctions against its energy and financial sectors.